This chapter is an overview of the American National Election Studies (ANES) as well as its functions and overall significance for study. It indicates how and why the ANES achieved its status as the ...
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This chapter is an overview of the American National Election Studies (ANES) as well as its functions and overall significance for study. It indicates how and why the ANES achieved its status as the gold standard among public opinion surveys and how this volume seeks to extend that standard. First used in 1948, the ANES has been in the field in every presidential election and nearly every congressional election since. It is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as one of its three “big social science” projects. Moreover, the ANES's sixty years of measuring public opinion and voting behavior has made possible the compilation of time-series analyses that are now starting to show real insights into, and to change how we view, campaigns and elections. To conclude, the chapter provides some insights into the future of survey research.Less

Introduction to the Volume

John H. AldrichKathleen M. McGraw

Published in print: 2011-12-25

This chapter is an overview of the American National Election Studies (ANES) as well as its functions and overall significance for study. It indicates how and why the ANES achieved its status as the gold standard among public opinion surveys and how this volume seeks to extend that standard. First used in 1948, the ANES has been in the field in every presidential election and nearly every congressional election since. It is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as one of its three “big social science” projects. Moreover, the ANES's sixty years of measuring public opinion and voting behavior has made possible the compilation of time-series analyses that are now starting to show real insights into, and to change how we view, campaigns and elections. To conclude, the chapter provides some insights into the future of survey research.

This chapter addresses issues related to partisan differences in political opinions by examining a unique set of state-level public opinion surveys. It compares the state-level determinants of the ...
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This chapter addresses issues related to partisan differences in political opinions by examining a unique set of state-level public opinion surveys. It compares the state-level determinants of the job approval ratings of the president and the senators and finds that they have almost nothing in common. The chapter then compares the sources of partisan differences in states' ratings of the president and senators and again finds that they have almost nothing in common. Next, it explores in greater detail the sources of variation in the degree of polarization inspired by senators' ratings, finding that these differ somewhat between Republican and Democratic senators but remain to an important degree under a senator's control. The chapter then shows how senators have adapted their roll-call behavior to the political leanings of their states, before drawing some conclusions.Less

Partisan Differences in Job Approval Ratings of George W. Bush and U.S. Senators in the States : An Exploration

Gary C. Jacobson

Published in print: 2011-10-30

This chapter addresses issues related to partisan differences in political opinions by examining a unique set of state-level public opinion surveys. It compares the state-level determinants of the job approval ratings of the president and the senators and finds that they have almost nothing in common. The chapter then compares the sources of partisan differences in states' ratings of the president and senators and again finds that they have almost nothing in common. Next, it explores in greater detail the sources of variation in the degree of polarization inspired by senators' ratings, finding that these differ somewhat between Republican and Democratic senators but remain to an important degree under a senator's control. The chapter then shows how senators have adapted their roll-call behavior to the political leanings of their states, before drawing some conclusions.

This chapter continues to discuss the issues surrounding opinion and perception research in the People’s Republic of China. It stresses the difficulty of ascertaining “true” opinions in a ...
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This chapter continues to discuss the issues surrounding opinion and perception research in the People’s Republic of China. It stresses the difficulty of ascertaining “true” opinions in a propaganda-saturated sociopolitical environment, but argues that there is nonetheless real value in studying expressed Chinese views and the regime’s “official narrative” of the United States for what it can reveal about China itself. China’s America experts are intellectuals who work for think tanks or research institutions and analyze U.S. actions for the consumption of the general public. Most of these organizations are directly or indirectly funded by the Chinese Communist Party, and as such, public opinion surveys and data analysis of the results often do not accurately represent the feelings of the general public.Less

China Watches America

Christopher A. Ford

Published in print: 2015-07-01

This chapter continues to discuss the issues surrounding opinion and perception research in the People’s Republic of China. It stresses the difficulty of ascertaining “true” opinions in a propaganda-saturated sociopolitical environment, but argues that there is nonetheless real value in studying expressed Chinese views and the regime’s “official narrative” of the United States for what it can reveal about China itself. China’s America experts are intellectuals who work for think tanks or research institutions and analyze U.S. actions for the consumption of the general public. Most of these organizations are directly or indirectly funded by the Chinese Communist Party, and as such, public opinion surveys and data analysis of the results often do not accurately represent the feelings of the general public.

This book compares the politics, policies, and polity-building dynamics of devolution in Wales and decentralisation in the French region of Brittany. Empirically, it draws conclusions from in-depth ...
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This book compares the politics, policies, and polity-building dynamics of devolution in Wales and decentralisation in the French region of Brittany. Empirically, it draws conclusions from in-depth fieldwork within the two regions and reports the findings of a comparative public-opinion survey. Theoretically, the book contributes towards our understanding of the comparative study of regions. Perhaps most impressive is how the case studies generally are based on, but also cast light back to, the nuanced theoretical framework on regional capacity established at the outset. The book uncovers the dynamics of devolution in Wales and decentralisation in Brittany through extensive face-to-face interviews: over two hundred interviews were carried out from 2001 to 2004, a formative stage in the development of the devolved institutions in Wales and also a period of expectation in Brittany.Less

Beyond Devolution and Decentralisation : Building Regional Capacity in Wales and Brittany

Alistair Cole

Published in print: 2006-04-13

This book compares the politics, policies, and polity-building dynamics of devolution in Wales and decentralisation in the French region of Brittany. Empirically, it draws conclusions from in-depth fieldwork within the two regions and reports the findings of a comparative public-opinion survey. Theoretically, the book contributes towards our understanding of the comparative study of regions. Perhaps most impressive is how the case studies generally are based on, but also cast light back to, the nuanced theoretical framework on regional capacity established at the outset. The book uncovers the dynamics of devolution in Wales and decentralisation in Brittany through extensive face-to-face interviews: over two hundred interviews were carried out from 2001 to 2004, a formative stage in the development of the devolved institutions in Wales and also a period of expectation in Brittany.

A paramount hope of Serbians who supported the ICTY was that its judgments would convince Serbian society that Serbs committed mass atrocities with extensive support from the Serbian government, and ...
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A paramount hope of Serbians who supported the ICTY was that its judgments would convince Serbian society that Serbs committed mass atrocities with extensive support from the Serbian government, and would persuade Serbia’s citizens and government to condemn those crimes unequivocally. During the first five or six years following the collapse of the Milošević regime, there was palpable progress in this sphere, a trend many Serbians believe the ICTY influenced. More recent years have, however, seen a rise in denialism. This chapter explores factors that account for each of these trends. Its conclusions reflect the rich insights of Serbians who administered periodic public opinion surveys, as well as social science research illuminating dynamics behind entrenched yet false beliefs, such as confirmation biases, motivated reasoning, social identity, heuristics, and framing effects.Less

Denial and Acknowledgment in Serbia

Diane Orentlicher

Published in print: 2018-05-08

A paramount hope of Serbians who supported the ICTY was that its judgments would convince Serbian society that Serbs committed mass atrocities with extensive support from the Serbian government, and would persuade Serbia’s citizens and government to condemn those crimes unequivocally. During the first five or six years following the collapse of the Milošević regime, there was palpable progress in this sphere, a trend many Serbians believe the ICTY influenced. More recent years have, however, seen a rise in denialism. This chapter explores factors that account for each of these trends. Its conclusions reflect the rich insights of Serbians who administered periodic public opinion surveys, as well as social science research illuminating dynamics behind entrenched yet false beliefs, such as confirmation biases, motivated reasoning, social identity, heuristics, and framing effects.

As in World War I, the second World War resulted in the disappearance of pre-war spatial boundaries governing drinking. Young women began visiting pubs in growing numbers first in early 1941 and with ...
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As in World War I, the second World War resulted in the disappearance of pre-war spatial boundaries governing drinking. Young women began visiting pubs in growing numbers first in early 1941 and with increasing frequency in the following years. Improved interwar premises facilitated the entry to licensed premises of adolescents and less affluent young women from unskilled working-class families. Women’s public drinking, reaching about 40% of all women on the eve of the war, rose perhaps by one-fifth, so that well over half and perhaps as many as three-fifths of all females were using pubs during the war. From the late 1940s, however, women shunned pubs in striking numbers. Public opinion polls suggest that the war ingrained deep hostility in many juvenile and young women to every frequenting drink premises thereafter. One enduring change was the widespread acceptance of the pub’s new name, the “local.”Less

Women, war and drinking

David W. Gutzke

Published in print: 2013-11-01

As in World War I, the second World War resulted in the disappearance of pre-war spatial boundaries governing drinking. Young women began visiting pubs in growing numbers first in early 1941 and with increasing frequency in the following years. Improved interwar premises facilitated the entry to licensed premises of adolescents and less affluent young women from unskilled working-class families. Women’s public drinking, reaching about 40% of all women on the eve of the war, rose perhaps by one-fifth, so that well over half and perhaps as many as three-fifths of all females were using pubs during the war. From the late 1940s, however, women shunned pubs in striking numbers. Public opinion polls suggest that the war ingrained deep hostility in many juvenile and young women to every frequenting drink premises thereafter. One enduring change was the widespread acceptance of the pub’s new name, the “local.”

This chapter examines the paradox that, even as journalism became more professional and concerned with social structure, it became increasingly distant from social science after the 1920s. The ...
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This chapter examines the paradox that, even as journalism became more professional and concerned with social structure, it became increasingly distant from social science after the 1920s. The boundary work carried out by both journalism and sociology to distinguish themselves from each other is described through a variety of content analyses of leading professional journals. The chapter points to some of the reasons why journalism and sociology grew apart, including the fact that data in journalism was primarily displayed visually and lacked causal claims. A discourse analysis of journals and newspapers shows that sociologists increasingly viewed journalism and fundamentally unscientific.Less

Journalism Interprets, Sociology Scientizes : Boundary Work Between Empirical Occupations in the 1920s and Beyond

C.W. Anderson

Published in print: 2018-10-25

This chapter examines the paradox that, even as journalism became more professional and concerned with social structure, it became increasingly distant from social science after the 1920s. The boundary work carried out by both journalism and sociology to distinguish themselves from each other is described through a variety of content analyses of leading professional journals. The chapter points to some of the reasons why journalism and sociology grew apart, including the fact that data in journalism was primarily displayed visually and lacked causal claims. A discourse analysis of journals and newspapers shows that sociologists increasingly viewed journalism and fundamentally unscientific.

Chapter 8 addresses a key question in public opinion surveys in China—political sensitivity. Many people are suspicious of the high level of political trust among the Chinese survey respondents. They ...
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Chapter 8 addresses a key question in public opinion surveys in China—political sensitivity. Many people are suspicious of the high level of political trust among the Chinese survey respondents. They don’t believe that people in authoritarian societies can tell the truth. This chapter borrows the method of list experiment which was originally developed to test racial bias and social desirability in the United States. Based on several list experiments conducted in China, the chapter finds only a moderate amount of political desirability effect. Even by taking consideration of such effect, political support is still very strong and significantly higher than in other societies such as democratic Taiwan. These findings further prove that political support in China is more likely to be explained by Chinese political culture, rather than by political fear.Less

Political Trust : An Experimental Study (with Yang Zhang)

Wenfang Tang

Published in print: 2016-04-01

Chapter 8 addresses a key question in public opinion surveys in China—political sensitivity. Many people are suspicious of the high level of political trust among the Chinese survey respondents. They don’t believe that people in authoritarian societies can tell the truth. This chapter borrows the method of list experiment which was originally developed to test racial bias and social desirability in the United States. Based on several list experiments conducted in China, the chapter finds only a moderate amount of political desirability effect. Even by taking consideration of such effect, political support is still very strong and significantly higher than in other societies such as democratic Taiwan. These findings further prove that political support in China is more likely to be explained by Chinese political culture, rather than by political fear.

Many Bosnians hoped the Tribunal would dispel denial and forge a shared understanding among their country’s ethnic communities about wartime atrocities. During a period of robust international ...
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Many Bosnians hoped the Tribunal would dispel denial and forge a shared understanding among their country’s ethnic communities about wartime atrocities. During a period of robust international engagement in the early years of the twenty-first century, there was significant progress in Serb acknowledgment of Serb atrocities, as well as acknowledgment by other ethnic groups that members of their in-group committed war crimes. Since 2006, however, there has been a sharp rise in nationalist rhetoric, which has included strident rejection of ICTY judgments. Moreover public opinion surveys reflect sharp cleavages among Bosnia’s major ethnic groups concerning beliefs about wartime atrocities. This chapter explores factors behind these trends, including the dynamics of competitive victimhood, the polarizing incentives of governance structures established in the Dayton Peace Agreement, and the retreat of the Office High Representative from robust engagement in Bosnia at a time of rising nationalism.Less

Living in Compulsory Denial (Bosnia)

Diane Orentlicher

Published in print: 2018-05-08

Many Bosnians hoped the Tribunal would dispel denial and forge a shared understanding among their country’s ethnic communities about wartime atrocities. During a period of robust international engagement in the early years of the twenty-first century, there was significant progress in Serb acknowledgment of Serb atrocities, as well as acknowledgment by other ethnic groups that members of their in-group committed war crimes. Since 2006, however, there has been a sharp rise in nationalist rhetoric, which has included strident rejection of ICTY judgments. Moreover public opinion surveys reflect sharp cleavages among Bosnia’s major ethnic groups concerning beliefs about wartime atrocities. This chapter explores factors behind these trends, including the dynamics of competitive victimhood, the polarizing incentives of governance structures established in the Dayton Peace Agreement, and the retreat of the Office High Representative from robust engagement in Bosnia at a time of rising nationalism.

This chapter proffers a political science perspective on how Americans view the ways in which genetics affect identity. It lays the groundwork for exploring possible relationships in the eyes of the ...
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This chapter proffers a political science perspective on how Americans view the ways in which genetics affect identity. It lays the groundwork for exploring possible relationships in the eyes of the public between genetics and race, by developing hypotheses based mainly on extrapolations from popular media or American history. Next the chapter introduces a 2011 public opinion survey of approximately 4,000 US adults. The Genomics Knowledge, Attitudes, and Politics Survey includes questions designed to reveal Americans' views about the importance of genetics in explaining various traits, behaviors, and diseases. The chapter then shows that respondents' understanding of the relationships among race, genes, and phenotypes is coherent and sensible (regardless of whether it is right or wrong).Less

Jennifer HochschildMaya Sen

Published in print: 2018-06-01

This chapter proffers a political science perspective on how Americans view the ways in which genetics affect identity. It lays the groundwork for exploring possible relationships in the eyes of the public between genetics and race, by developing hypotheses based mainly on extrapolations from popular media or American history. Next the chapter introduces a 2011 public opinion survey of approximately 4,000 US adults. The Genomics Knowledge, Attitudes, and Politics Survey includes questions designed to reveal Americans' views about the importance of genetics in explaining various traits, behaviors, and diseases. The chapter then shows that respondents' understanding of the relationships among race, genes, and phenotypes is coherent and sensible (regardless of whether it is right or wrong).